Nightingale
by Revan Dark Lord Of The Sith
Summary: In a world ravaged by chaos, war, and plain just weird crap. One organization tries to keep the peace as best as it can. Nightingale, cloaked in shadow, known to few, the brave Nightingales lend their shadowy aid where its needed and end disasters before the even begin. Join Nightingale as it goes through all sorts of crazy rides. OC story, reviews are greatly appreciated
1. Prologue

Hello people of the internet! So I decided to write a new story, and it's going to tie in with a story one of my friends is writing

You can find Said Story here: s/9810571/1/Phoenix-Crest

I won't spoil much for you because this story is still being planned out, but here's a little taste of what's to come

* * *

_"Everyone deserves a second chance? Wrong, the only people who deserve second chances are the people who have truly done wrong with their lives in the past and genuinely want to do better with them in the future"_

_– Jason Ignatius, leader of the Nightingales_

* * *

Prologue

A Second Chance

* * *

Well, this was it. Zeke was sitting in a cell in some prison, in the middle of god knows where awaiting his execution. "Well, at least I did what I could…" he said with a sigh.

It had been almost a year since he had given up his endless search for a bloodthirsty serial killer who had killed his fiancé. During his search he had done things, horrible things, to try and find the killer so he could kill him, slowly and painfully

But once he realized that all he was doing was just becoming another killer himself, he'd given up the search and gone into hiding as a simple herbalist in a small town

But one of his old informants had sold him out for the reward money, the guards had come in the middle of the night and arrested him before he'd even realized what was happening

The trial had been swift, the evidence overwhelming, and the sentence brutal and just

For his crimes of murder, torture, and cruelty he had been sentenced to hang the following morning, before the sun had fully risen, never seeing the light of day again

So here he sat, in his small cell with one barred window and a few guards outside, waiting for thr time to pass so he could finally go and die

Zeke let out another sigh "if only I could go back and do it over…" he said wistfully

"Would you do anything different?" Said a voice to his left, he turned, with a startled jump, to see who the voice belonged to

Sitting on his small bed next to him was a woman, dresses in a black skin suit of somekind, with long red hair, and piercing blue eyes

"Who are-" Zeke started but was interrupted

"Not important, just answer the question, would you do it differently?" The woman asked

Zeke fought down his curiosity and considered the question "yes, I wouldn't let myself go too far and do the many horrible things I did, I just wish I hadn't now"

"Why? Because you were caught and don't want to die?" The woman asked

Zeke shook his head "no, because I can't stand to know that I did those things, killed those people, because I thought they were lying and was too blind to see what a monster I had become"

The woman nodded to herself, seeming to be satisfied and held two fingers up to her ear, where Zeke saw was a lacrima of some kind strapped to it "you here all that boss?" she asked, after a second she nodded and stood up

"Well kid, today is your lucky day. You're getting what very few ever do" she told him and offered him her hand

Zeke frowned "which is?" he asked and took her hand

The woman smirked and pulled him up "a Second chance"


	2. Chapter 1

Whats up dudes and dudettes!? Revan here, finally bringing you the the first official chapter in my newest brainchild, Nightingale!

I apologize for such a long wait, I was putting it off for a while, but I finally spent a few hours and finished it up instead of going to bed (its about 4:30 am as I write this last bit and upload it)

Anyway, on to the story! I made it extra-long to make up for my lateness with posting, ENJOY!

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Nightingale Ch. 1

The Nightingales

* * *

_"Why do we do what we do? Because we've been given the ability to do it without being bound by all the laws and bureaucratic bullshit like the courts or police. Does it earn us enemies? Of course it does, are we bothered by it? No, now can I get back to work?"_

_-Monty, Nightingale Logistics lead_

* * *

"How much farther?" Zeke asked, his face a veil under the hood of the jacket he was currently wearing, with only a few strands of his long black hair visible

"Not far" The woman, who'd since identified herself as Nix, responded "we'll be there in a few more minutes" she told him as they ascended the mountain, after traveling out of Fiore and into some other country Zeke didn't remember the name of they'd gone through an underground tunnel and exited a while ago

"You still haven't told me where the hell we're going" Zeke pointed out

"I told you, the Nightingales" Nix said with a sigh

"Right but who or what is that exactly?" Zeke asked "you're not giving me anything to go on here"

"Id explain but two things, one, your annoying me enough to not make me want to" Nix said as she looked back at Zeke "and two, Jason will explain it all once we get there"

"And who-"Zeke started but was cut off

"You'll meet him when we arrive"

Zeke simply sighed and shut up as they continued in silence, after about five more minutes of walking a path, they arrived at what Zeke would describe as a somewhat gothic looking mansion. The structure in question was near the back of a huge gap in the mountain, as if a great god had gone and taken a hammer to the mountain's main mass, creating a large flat area that was encased in a bowl within the natural land itself

The structure itself was quite large, large enough to accommodate about a hundred or so people comfortable and still hold plenty of spare rooms and service rooms like a kitchen and other things. It was made out of a smooth dark stone not unlike a dark granite and had a grand entrance to it with a fountain out front

Off to either side of the main building, Zeke saw what appeared to be a warehouse, and opposite to it on the other end of the place stood stables of some kind, with a large open roof. What was stored inside Zeke wasn't sure, this place was far too hard for horses to reach

"Castle Nightingale" Nix spoke up finally, Zeke had been staring for a solid eight minutes at everything

"I'd ask what the hell this place is and why it's in the middle of a mountain, but I doubt your answer" Zeke asked

"Well imp as to why it's here, that's a long story, as to how we obtained it though, we got it from a vampire" Nix responded calmly as they walked towards the Mansion

Zeke simply stared at her for a minute "I can't tell if your being serious or not" he said

Nix simply chuckled and opened the doors to the mansion, the interior of it confirmed what Zeke was guessing, it was definitely grand. A large entryway greeted them, with a chandelier hanging overhead and two large staircases that led down the walls, hallways could be seen off to the left and right of the room on the ground and second floors

"Now, let's go find Jason, he'll want to know we're here" Nix said and led Zeke up the stairs in the entryway and off down a passage. They exited into a room that reminded Zeke of a command center or a war room from old war movies, it had a large table in the middle of the room sporting maps of all of earthland. On the back wall was a board with various papers and posters all over it, desks and other tables and the like littered the walls of the room, and on one wall was a large screen with some lacrima attached to it

Zeke had seen that kind of setup before, a digital screen that could be used as a communicator and to display information

It was currently showing the image of about five people who seemed to be talking with the man standing in front of it

"Gone too far this time Jason" One said "that was an infamous mass murderer and serial killer you just conscripted, there was supposed to be a public execution!"

"Then tell them there was a complication, fabricate a lie, or story, you're all good at that, you're presidents. Now unless you have a real problem with how im leading my organization, I'll be going" The man, Presumable Jason, told the people on the screen and killed the feed

Jason then turned to Nix and Zeke "ah, the infamous Zeke has arrived" he said, Zeke took a look at him

He was about 5'10 with short brown hair, not very muscular but not skimpy either. He was somewhat pale and his eyes were a dark blue

"Yeah that's me, so what is this place, she" Zeke said and turned to point at Nix, but discovered she had disappeared "wouldn't tell me anything…" he finished and looked around

"Don't worry, Nix tends to do that" Jason said with a chuckle "anyway, im Jason Ignatius, leader of this little operation that we like to call the Nightingales" he said and walked over to Zeke

"But what exactly is this place?" Zeke asked

"The Nightingales" Jason began "is an order that was created about twenty years ago by the world powers with the intent of making a separate entity from their systems of government that could act where they could not" he said "in simple terms, we're the ones who go after the bad guys without having to worry about the legality or proper procedure of things. A shadowy hand, if you will, that enacts vengeance upon the evil that deserves it, and we answer to nobody"

"Then why were those presidents so pissed at you?" Zeke asked

"I say were not bound by laws, but sometimes the world powers don't like how we go about doing what we do, we are allowed to conscript anyone into our ranks, sometimes leaders don't like it when we conscript certain people of interest" Jason explained

"Like me" Zeke guessed

"Right, like you" Jason nodded "but I've come to see that nobody does this job better than a person who deserves a second chance at life"

"And you think I do?" Zeke asked

"Right" Jason said

"But you don't even know m-" Jason began

"Zeke Arcturus, thirty one years old, engaged to be married to your late fiancé Ellen until the serial killer known as bloodfist killed her while you were out looking for a tuxedo, after the initial investigation came up with no leads you became enraged at the lack of justice and started your own investigation" Jason said

Zeke was dumbfounded

Jason continued "what started as normal looking around soon became not enough and you started becoming more violent and vicious in your 'questioning' of potential leads, eventually you became so frustrated with it all you started killing your victims, after about four years of this you realized what you were doing and gave it up, settling down in a small village and learning herbalism to try and be a healer of sorts" he said

"And then an old contact ratted me out for my reward money" Zeke finished

Jason nodded "I've done my homework on you, you did terrible things to try and bring justice to your dead lover, but what garnered my attention is that you tried to make up for it" he said "that's why you got a second chance"

Zeke nodded, somewhat understanding it all now "I see"

"So, now that we've got that settled, how about a tour?" Jason said with a smile "I'll explain how things work around here, you'll meet some of the important people who work here and then we'll find where we can put you"

"That sounds good" Zeke said with a nod

"great, right this way then" Jason said and led Zeke out of the room and down into a series of hallways and finally stopping in a darker wing of the mansion, a light fog seemed to cover the floor and the halls were a little darker

"This" Jason spoke up "is where the Inquisitors make their home"

"Inquisitors?" Zeke asked

"yes, you see Nightingale has two main sub groups, Inquisitors and Dragoons" Jason said as they walked "The Inquisition is our stealth force, intelligence operatives, double agents, infiltrators, and the like" he explained "Inquisitors are our main force for single target apprehension or information extraction"

"so theyre like the super sleuths of this place?" Zeke asked

Jason nodded "essentially, Nix is an inquisitor, she's our best infiltration agent" he said as they entered a room

The room was tall and long, several desks were in the center of the room while multiple boards were posted to the walls, at the end of the room was a large throne made of smooth, polished gray, stone. More interesting than the throne though, was the woman sitting in it

She had long hair that reached below her shoulder and was the color of the purist snow. Her attire was a black gothic dress and black heels, what stood out most about her though were her eyes, which were a deep red crimson. And she held an ornate wine glass in her hand, filled with what Zeke guessed was red wine

The pair made their way through the room, and the people there who all glanced up at them before going back to work

"Evangeline" Jason said and bowed slightly, Zeke decided to follow suit

"ah, Jason, come here, what brings you to my little operation child?" The woman on the throne, Presumably Evangeline, asked

'Child?' Zeke though 'she looks nineteen at the most, she's far younger than Jason'

"Taking our newest conscript on a tour" Jason said and gestured to Zeke

"ah… I thought I smelled fresh blood" Evangeline said

'uh what?' Zeke thought

"yes, I thought introducing him to you first might help him ease into the place" Jason explained

"ah so he is unaware then?" Evangeline asked

"that's right" Jason said "well, im going to leave him in your care for now, when your done showing him what you do here, please escort him to Rain"

"of course child" Evangeline said

Jason nodded "then ill leave you to get acquainted"

"wait" Zeke said and looked at Jason "please tell me what the hell your talking about"

"oh very well, you may have noticed how Evangeline here prefers to call us all children" Jason said

"right, but whats that got to do with anything?" Zeke asked

"Because my dear, you are all children to me" Evangeline said with a laugh and sipped her drink

"but why? You don't look older than nineteen" Zeke pointed out

"ah but looks can be deceiving you know Zeke" Jason said

"indeed child" Evngeline said and smiled with her teeth, when she did Zeke saw that her canines were elongated fangs "you see dear boy, I am a vampire"

"…." Zeke wasn't sure on how to react "a vampire" he echoed

"a Vampire" Jason nodded "she around eighteen hundred years old"

"more like seven thousand five hundred" Evangeline corrected

"Ah excuse me" Jason said with a bow "anyway, Zeke. Evangeline here is the head inquisitor, besides what you may think about her undeath, she is probably the best intelligence agent we have, she is outstanding at planning undercover operations and is an adept field agent"

"this is just too odd" Zeke said

"trust me Child, im not the oddest thing youll find here" Evangeline said

"anywho, I must be off" Jason said "Evangeline will take you from here" he said

And then he turned and walked away, leaving Zeke alone with a Vampire in her own domain

"Now then Child" Evangeline said "let us talk about how the inquisition works"

* * *

And end! Well guys I hope you liked the first real chapter to this story, I hope it shed some light on some of your questions and speculations

Anyway, ill get to work on the next chapter soon so hopefully it wont be quite as long the wait this time. But remember, your reviews and feedback help me improve the story by keeping my plot hamsters running in their wheels

Fare the well Readers!


	3. Chapter 2

Greetings Fanfiction, its me Revan, here with the next chapter for ya

Hope you all are enjoying it so far. And if anyone is interested in what story this one will cross over into, its Phoenix Crest from my good friend Ig From The North, you should go start giving it a read

Anywho, on to Chapter two!

* * *

_"Alright, I've got two big cans of whoop ass, so calm down because there's plenty for everyone!"_

_-Rain, head Dragoon_

* * *

"so as you've probably gathered, the inquisition is the stealth branch of the Nightingales" Evangeline said as she looked back to Zeke

"yeah, looks like it" he responded

"We specialize in two distinct methods of operation" Evangeline said "information extraction, and assassination. And my agents are very good at these"

"wait hold on" Zeke said "you do assassinations?"

"of course" Evangeline nodded "often times the only way to remove a problem is to remove the source entirely. Therefore assassinations are needed, the inquisitions handles such matters"

Nearby, two cloaked figures walked over, both simply walking out of the shadows

"ah, there you are" Evangeline said as she noticed the two "Zeke, this is Trenton and Ellen, my top assassins"

The two people removed the hoods from their cloaks. The one on the left was a man, about 5'8, with short black hair and hazel eyes, his skin was pale, but not quite so as Evangeline's. He wore black jeans, black boots, a black shirt, and a black cloak. Strapped all around him though, were throwing daggers

His face was mostly blank but he nodded slightly to Zeke in silence

The right figure was more interesting it turned out. She was about 5'5 with long purple hair that went past her shoulders, and her eyes were a dark blue. The fascinating thing though, was her dark blue skin and pointed ears, marking her as, what Zeke was assuming, an elf. More specifically a dark elf. She wore skin tight black pants, a black Short sleeved top that left her stomach bare and held a sizable bust, and a purple cloak. Over her shoulder was a bow and a quiver full of arrows

"Charmed" She said once

"they don't speak very much, except to eachother of course" Evangeline said "they both use invisibility magic, Trenton can go even further as to remove his odor and any sound he makes, and Ellen uses telepathy. Which allows them to talk telepathically or for her to exert a small amount of control over others" she explained "together, they are the most Silent and Deadly pair in the whole of Nightingale"

Zeke stared at the two "and you're a-"

"night elf, yes" Ellen finished "my tale is long and not for ears such as yours human" she said simply

"oh, sorry then" Zeke said in slight surprise, most had been fairly open to him so far, but these two seemed to be very closed off

"don't take it personally, she doesn't really like most humans, and speaks to few people, she has only told her story to three people here" Evangeline said as the silent duo walked off. Zeke couldn't help but notice how they never strayed more than a foot away from eachother

"now then" The vampires said "lets go to the mead hall"

"the mead hall?" Zeke questioned

"youll see" Evangeline said as she led him through a series of halls, back into the main entryway, and through a set of double doors "much how The Inquisition is the stealth branch of Nightingale, this is the heavy duty enforcing branch" she explained as they walked through the doos

What Zeke saw made him frown

The room theyd entered was huge, like a highschool gym huge. And it was well lit, especially compared to the rest of the manor. On the back wall was a bar and plenty of stools, with tables by it. Off to the left were a set of stairs leading to what appeared to be individual rooms. And the rest of the room was occupied by several spring rings. At the front of all the rings was a group of people watching a fight in progress

As Zeke and Evangeline made their way to the people, Zeke could hear the cheers of the spectators "these, are the Dragoons" Evangeline spoke up "the Nightingale army, enforcers, guards, and all around powerhouses" she explained as they stepped up to the other people, the spectators parted to allow them to get closer when they saw Evangeline

In the ring was a woman, she appeared to be eastern in nationality and had on a set of leather armored robes and held a saber of some kind in her hands, her hair was a black color with some red as well, she was currently fighting a man in a pure white kimono and brown sandals who had long white hair tied into a topknot who wielded a black steel katana

"ah look who left her crypt" Said a voice to Zeke's left, he took his eyes of the swordfighters to see who it was and was greeted by a man with short spiky blonde hair, a black trench coat and a brown messenger bag. On his shoulder was an exceed with black and white stripped fur who had a keg on his back

"Lee, Trent" Evangeline nodded "this is Zeke, the new recruit, Jason wanted me to bring him here once I was finished with him"

"you didnt turn him did you?" The exceed asked "he seems pale"

"Trent im sure she wouldn't do that unless the boy said it was ok" The man, presumably Lee, said

"im still human" Zeke said stupidly

"well, thank goodness for that" The exceed said

"I shall leave him in your care then alchemist" The vampiress said and nodded before leaving

Zeke turned to face the man and exceed "so… are you the leader of these guys?"

"no, that would be me" Growled a voice behind him, Zeke turned and saw a large black panther staring at him from a foot away

* * *

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand break! That's going to be Chapter 2, I hoped everyone liked it. Im working on the next chapter already so you can hope to see it up hopefully in a week, maybe sooner

If you haven't guessed it yet, theres going to be a decent amount of non-humans in Nightingale, because I like non-humans and everyone should be allowed to fight the good fight

Anyway, leave a review and ill confer with my Plot Hamsters as to what to do next, until then I bid you adieu


	4. Chapter 3

_"….." "…..*blush*"_

_-Trenton &amp; Ellen_

* * *

Zeke stared at the panther in front of him with a mixture of shock and fear "um…. Nice panther?"

The panther just stared back "nice panther?" it said with a growl "a predator that could literally maul your face off without you being able to really do anything to stop it, and the best idea you come up with is to pacify it by saying _nice panther_?"

Suddenly the panther morphed, growing and turning into… a girl in her late teens. She had hair that was bright blue and stopped at her shoulders, her eyes were also blue, as was her t-shirt, sleeveless zip up hoodie, her skinny jeans, and her laceless shoes. She seemed perfectly human, except for the tail sh had covered in midnight black/blue fur and the panther ears poking out of the top of her head with fur as well

Zeke stared in shock with his mouth open "….. how?"

The girl sighed "im an ascentian" she said as if that explained everything

"um, ok but could you possibly explain that?" Zeke requested

The girl rolled her eyes "Ascentians are animals that are very intelligent and as they get older we learn the ability to take on human, or hybrid forms" she said "does that make more sense?"

"a little…" Zeke answered

"good, now that that's out of the way" she said and walked over "im Rain Wildstorm, leader of the dragoons" she introduced "this is the mead hall, it's the main hangout spot in Nightingale manor, but we also make out home here" she explained and placed an arm on his shoulders "now, you've already met countess von vampire, so im assuming you met the inquisition right?"

Zeke nodded in answer "yeah, they seemed, well, closed off" he said

"well, they might seem that way to you but for the most part theyre alright, they'll open up to you a little more as you get to know them. Like Nix, she's pretty easygoing. Evangeline may seem like a stereotypical vampire bad guy but its mostly an act, you'll se her here a lot"

"oh, well ok if you say so" Zeke said with some uncertainty

Rain chuckled "don't worry, now why don't you come meet my gang?" she suggested and lead Zeke back to the ring, where the fight was still going. The Head Dragoon pointed at the girl "that's Jade, she's from the east, place called Xian I think. She's good with a blade and pretty sociable, and she loves to spar"

She pointed to the man in white "that's Katsumoto, he can be quiet at times but he's really a sweet guy, he's a great sword hand and is a stalwart fighter"

She then turned and gestured to Lee and Trent, who were still there "That's Lee and his exceed partner Trent" she said "Lee is probably the best alchemist you'll ever meet, and he's rich" she added with an eyebrow wiggle

"Technically" Lee spoke up "I'm broke, my younger brother is rich" he corrected

Rain waved it off "well he can get money easily, anyway, Trent there is the best brewer of alcohol in earthland"

"master beeromancer!" Trent said proudly, causing Zeke to give him a look

"hey, its true" Lee said "you should try his ale sometime, Rain swears by it"

"best ive had in all my nine hundred and fifty eight years" The Woman agreed with a nod

"wait did you just-"

"and over here" Rain interrupted by steering Zeke over to the bar, where he found yet another non human sitting at the bar "we have the lovable Seres"

Seres turned at the mention of her name, she had long black hair tied into a ponytail, eyes the color of faded dollar bills, and pointed ears. Her skin was a faded green color, and her bottom canine teeth were slightly sticking up above her bottom lip, she wore some leather outfit and was barefoot "oh, hello there" she greeted

"seres here is an orc" Rain said

"right" Zeke said "never would have guessed"

"your Zeke right?" Seres asked

"uh, yeah that's me" he responded

"ive heard about you, pleasure to meet you" Seres said with a bit of a smile and offered her hand

Zeke took it and shook "pleasure to meet you too"

"well that's everyone, well everyone who's here anyway" Rain said "Taylor is out on a job with Aelyn at the moment, youll meet them later"

"so, this seems like a dumb question but what exactly do you guys do?" Zeke asked after he'd sat down at the bar with Rain, Seres, and Lee and Trent behind the bar

"well The Dragoons are mainly a force and not so subtle group, while the inquisitors deal with the cloak and dagger hush hush stuff" Rain started "we do things like keep baddies out of villiges, beat up bandits, and go monster hunting. Things like that, make sense?"

"so you guys handle the things that take more power and less subtlety?" Zeke asked, which Rain nodded to "essentially"

"think of us as the soldiers to the inquisitors spies" Seres offered

Zeke nodded "oh, ok that makes sense"

He then spent some time talking with the Dragoons, getting to know them for a bit, after a half an hour or so the doors to the mead hall opened, and in walked Jason along with Evangeline, the inquisitors he'd met earlier, and a few other people

Jason walked over and nodded to the group "so, met everyone?" he asked

Zeke nodded "yeah, this is a cool place you've got here"

Jason smiled "good, then are you ready to take your oath and become a nightingale?" he asked

"yes" Zeke said almost immediately

"good" Jason said "then follow me" he told Zeke and walked over to a clear ring

Zeke followed him over, the rest of the present Nightingales all gathered around them "alright Zeke" Jason said "read the oath, and then show me where you want your mark" he said and handed Zeke a small card

Zeke read off th card in his mind, then looked up and said it out loud

"We are the dealers of justice, we are the light in the darkness

When nobody else can do whats right, we move swiftly and efficiently

I swear on my life and honor, that I will remain a loyal and true member of Nightingale

For we are the secret hope of the world, we are the dealers of justice. We are Nightingale" he finished

"Justice!" echoed the rest of Nightingale

Zeke rolled up his jacket sleeve and indicated to Jason his shoulder, which the man nodded to and placed a stamp over it. Zeke felt a slight burning sensation as the mark was applied and when Jason lifted it, there was a black tattoo of a Nightingale in flight

"welcome to Nightingale Zeke" Jason said with a smile

* * *

CUT!

And that will conclude chapter 3 people, I hoped you all liked it. If you did then drop a review for me, and if you didn't then drop me a review to tell me how I could improve. Or if nothing else, do it for my plot hamsters, they get happy when people review

THINK OF THE HAMSTERS PEOPLE

Anyway, ill get working on the next chapter and get back with you all asap


	5. Chapter 4

Hey guys, sorry for taking so long with this update, ive been real busy lately. But I finally sat down and finished it!

* * *

"…_.. this interview is over"- Taylor, Dragoon_

Chapter 4

Jason smiled as he watched Zeke interact with the rest of Nightingale, well most of it anyway, there were some members here and there out on various assignments, but the majority of the organization was here. He walked over to Zeke, who was currently engaged in a conversation with Seres and the dynamic duo that was Lee and the exceed Trent

"So then, while he was talking with them, I went around and turned the entire sidewalk sideways, they flew all over the street with the dumbest look, it was hilarious!" Seres finished her tail with a laugh, Zeke and the others laughed at it as well

"Good to see your getting along well with everyone" Jason told the newest Nightingale

Zeke nodded "yeah everyone has real interesting stories, especially Seres here" he commented

Seres grinned "well I just have so many good adventures" the orc chuckled

"well, if your ready I have decided on which branch you'll join" Jason told him

Everyone within earshot ran over, curious to see which of the two branches of Nightingale the newest member would be joining. "yeah tell me Jason" Zeke urged

Jason nodded and cleared his throat "very well, Zeke Arturis, you shall join the Dragoon branch of Nightingale and serve as one of our many soldiers and enforcers" he announced

The Dragoons all cheered for Zeke and the Inquisitors, while somewhat disappointed, all clapped for him as well

"Welcome to the gang Zeke!" Rain shouted and trapped him in a playful armlock

Outside a loud roar was heard as the Dragoons messed around

"uh what was that?" Zeke asked as he tried to get out of the armlock "oh that roar?" Rain asked "that was probably the Wyverns" she explained and let him go

"Wyverns?" Zeke asked

"Yeah, that's how we get around, we breed and keep black wyverns in those stables you saw outside" Seres confirmed "we each have one we care for and ride when needed" she explained "Aelin can give you the full tour and explanation when she gets back from her assignment"

"Aelin? Whos that?" Zeke asked.

Rain nodded "she's another Dragoon, but she's also the stable master, she tends to the wyverns in her free time"

Zeke looked over and saw Jason talking with Trenton and Ellen nearby "so its done?" he asked. Trenton nodded "he's dead, and so are the rest, but there's a problem"

"Phoenix Crest was there" Ellen said

"Phoenix Crest? Damn, Flint wont be happy about this…" Jason sighed and saw Zeke looking at him, he turned back to the two inquisitors "come on, lets talk about this elsewhere" he said and led them away

"So!" Seres exclaimed and broke Zeke's line of thought as he looked at the orc "do you know any magic?"

Zeke nodded "uh I know some Dark Ecriture magic, but I don't use it much" he shrugged

"what do you know how to do with it?" Seres inquired

"well, I know how to make wings, and a fear spell, and a pain spell" Zeke said "im kinda lousy with it though"

"Hey no big deal" Rain said "magic isn't everything"

"easy for you to say Rain" Lee spoke up "You're a flame god slayer"

"whaaaaaa?!" Zeke exclaimed

"yeah but I don't rely on it, I have cat like grace and reflexes to get through problems if I need to" Rain grinned

"Since when have you ever relied on that?" Seres asked "all you ever do is beat things into submission"

"well yeah…. But that's _fun_" Rain explained

"I think your all somewhat insane" Zeke spoke up "and I probably am for joining you"

"probably" Nearly every Dragoon who had heard him spoke up in unison

"so hey, now that your in with the cool kids" Rain spoke up "want to head out with us on a minor assignment?"

"um, whats the assignment?" Zeke asked

"just an easy bit of work" Rain said "theres a gang of bandits in a town nearby, they've requested help from the local magic guilds, but the wizards that were sent were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and had to retreat"

Seres nodded "normally when stuff like this happens, Jason gets the council rescind the request and passes it along to us, and then we form a team and go deal with the problem" she explained

"so we need to go get rid of a group of bandits that sent a magic guild running?" Zeke asked

"yep!" Rain confirmed "pretty standard job, shouldn't take long, you in?" She asked

"…. Why not?" Zeke said and stood up

"great, we'll go in a group of four. Itll be you, me, Seres, and Katsu" Rain said as they got up and started heading out the door "hey Katsumoto! We're taking that bandit job, your coming with us!" she said

The white haired samurai paused in his duel with Jade and nodded at the leader, he turned to Jade, gave a bow "we'll continue this later Miss Jade" he said and fell into step behind the other three members of the party

The four dragoons walked out of the mead hall and made their way outside and headed to the stables "alright guys, lets make it quick" Rain told them as she led them in "Zeke, you don't have a wyvern yet so you'll ride with Seres"

Zeke nodded as the others went to separate pens, he followed the orc into another one and stopped when he saw the wyvern

It was like a dragon, about 8 feet tall and he assumed about 15 feet long from snout to tail, its wings were tucked against its body so it was hard to tell what kind of a wing span it had, its legs were smaller than he would have guessed, about 5 feet long, but seemed very thick around. The scales were the color of dark moss, mostly black but with a dark green undertone

"This is Vriska" Seres introduced "she's my partner"

"She's… pretty, in a sort of terrifying way" Zeke said

"that's what most wyverns get id suspect, now come on, she seems to think your ok so les get going" Seres told him and the two got up and saddled the beast before sitting atop it

"Fly Vriska!" Seres cried and they wyvern responded with a roar before spreading her wings and leaping into the sky, soon catching up with the others, who were already waiting for them

Zeke felt amazed by this feeling of flight as the Dragoons flew off into the night


	6. Chapter 5

Sorry for the long delay here but I finally sat down and finished writing this chapter

/

"My my, is your blood type O positive? What? No, I'm just curious is all..."

-Evangeline, Vampire &amp; head inquisitor

/

Jason sighed as he watched the connection of his two way lacrima go to static

"Stubborn old bastard" he muttered and stood up from his chair

"Monty, status of team Omega?" he requested

Monty, the logistics lead and coordination officer of Nightingale spoke up from his screen

"Bandits engaged, minimal resistance is meeting Rain and her team, Zeke seems to be handling himself somewhat well" he reported and kept typing away on his archive screen

Jason nodded "good, glad he's getting his feet wet already, he'll fit in well there" the leader of Nightingale walked around the center of operations for the teams that were sent into the field

10 separate operation agents, called Handlers, clacked away on their archives, a requirement for being a handler, and directed the various teams and operatives Nightingale had deployed

Typically the Inquisition required the use of handlers more than the Dragoons due to the sensitive nature of their assignments

Whereas the Dragoons just needed the occasional point in the right direction most of the time

"Status of team Gamma?" Jason requested

"They report that the beast has been put out of commission for now, Shimako seems to believe it may be back in action in a month or so but she can't say for sure" One of the handlers reported

Jason 'hmphed' "they're getting more and more frequent, alright tell Shimako and Oni to get back here"

Nix soon walked in to Operations "sir you asked for me?" She asked

Jason nodded "yes Nix, look there's a ah, sensitive matter I need monitored in Magnolia, specifically Pheonix Crest, just keep an eye on them for me and don't get seen, I don't want to think of how Flint would react to Nightingale keeping tabs on him, especially after the incident with the Circus. But they're in the middle of a big scavenger hunt at the moment so I doubt they'd notice you even if you weren't trying to blend in"

Nix nodded "not to worry sir, I'm the best infiltrator in the whole organization" she said with pride "they'll never know I'm there"

"Good to hear it Nix, now grab whatever you need and get going, this could go on indefinitely so be prepared to stay a while and contact me or Monty if you need something" Jason instructed "and this probably goes without saying but if you take a Wyvern, don't take it into town"

Nix nodded "yes sir, a hungry Wyvern in Magnolia might be a problem" she said as she left

Jason sat back down in his chair "status of Theta team?" He asked

"Theta reports objective completed and they are returning home as we speak" a handler reported

"And Omega?"

"Bandits at 7% fighting strength, Rain reports they'll be finished soon"

"And Zeke?" Jason inquired

"Handled himself better than she expected but still needs a bit of work"

Jason nodded "about as well as I figured, we'll have him spar a bit with Katsumoto or maybe Oni" he thought out loud "put him on a training regimen"

As the day went on Jason requested updates on teams in the field and directed some when Monty could not, which was almost never, 4 years he'd been the logistics lead. He usually directed 6 or 7 teams at a time and was still able to work on his data screens

After several hours of what was more or less a typical day in the OS of Nightingale, a report made its way to Jason, who frowned and picked it up "what's this Monty?"

The logistics lead looked over "ah the incident a while back about the disciples of Noh. You may want to read through it"

Jason raised an eyebrow and read it, he remembered it, it'd been back when he was just an Inquisitor. Some crazy cult tried to sacrifice a boy to summon some kind of apocalypse and destroy everything

Naturally, Nightingale had managed to stop them, but the leader had escaped and eluded them ever since

"Very nostalgic Monty but what did I read this for?"

"Sir look over the details, the specifications to which they needed to perform the ritual"

Jason read it over again

"Aligned planets and a special crystal altar?"

Monty nodded "the alignment is coming soon, and our sources report that the only known query for that crystal was recently re opened by an unknown"

"Hm, alright we'll look into it then" Jason said "Ah is Raiden back yet?"

Monty looked at a screen "yes looks like he just arrived a moment ago, I'm sure Rain will be ecstatic"

-Meanwhile in the Mead Hall-

Rain, Seres, Zeke, and Katsumoto had just walked back in

"I can't believe you guys, you were incredible!" Zeke exclaimed

"You weren't bad yourself Zeke" Rain spoke up

"Indeed Zeke-San" Katsumoto agreed "your Aid was very much useful"

Seres agreed and playfully punched Zeke in the arm

"Rain-Chan!" A voice shouted from nearby and an exceed flew over faster than Zeke had seen one fly before and placed itself on the head of Rain

"Raiden!" Rain exclaimed and hugged the exceed "when did you get back?"

"About an hour ago" Raiden replied

"Nice, oh you should meet the new guy" Rain said and gestured to Zeke

"Zeke this is Raiden, another Dragoon and my partner usually" Rain said

Zeke took a look at the creature

He stood about a foot and a half, average Exceed height, and sported dark grey fur with new white fur here and there, evidence of scars that had healed, additionally he wore a dark blue cloak and carried what looked like a spear on his back, only it was about a foot long

"Pleased to meet you Zeke" he said with a bow

"Nice to meet you too Raiden" Zeke said and bowed back, albeit somewhat awkwardly

"Raiden's one of our best field agents" Seres said

"I once saw him take out an entire dark guild single handedly" Rain said

"Wow your pretty tough for an exceed then huh?" Zeke inquired

Raiden grinned "people tend to underestimate me, I exploit that. Plus I, like some other exceeds, can maintain a bigger, tougher, and stronger form for a short time, though I'm not helpless without it, this spear isn't just for show" he explained

"Wow impressive" Zeke said

"Raiden-Sama's prowess with the spear is second to none in Nightingale" Katsumoto spoke up

"Well it was nice meeting you Zeke, I think we'll be good friends" Raiden said with another grin and flew off to a table, Rain joining him

"This place is very odd, but I love it" Zeke said

Seres chuckled and placed an arm around Zeke and Katsumoto "come on, let's go get some grub and a round of Trent's finest to celebrate Zeke's first mission as a Dragoon" she suggested and led the two to the bar, where Lee and Trent both waved them to the counter and got them a meal


	7. Chapter 6

"I'm the best infiltrator in this whole organization"

"WE KNOW!"

-Nix, inquisitor and top infiltration agent

* * *

"WHAT?!" Jason shouted to the screen in front of him

The face of Nix looked back and sighed "yes well they made quite the mess, it was rather spectacular I must say"

"I can't believe Flint let Xander loose like that, what the hell was he thinking?!" Jason shouted

"Jason you should calm down, your anger isn't helping" Monty said from nearby

"Monty if I want your opinion I'll ask for it!" Jason shot back before making an obvious effort to calm down "Now, Nix anything else to report?"

Nix shook her head "no, it was easy to watch the battle, they were so focused on the fight they didn't even notice me watching from nearby. The uh ninja, Enzin I think his name is, he left just before it started, I'll bet he'll be back soon now that it's over"

Jason nodded "ok, continue to watch only, and stay out of sight. I'll be sending along another agent soon. Just in case"

"But sir! I wo-"

"Work better alone yes I know, but I'm getting a bad feeling about this, so I'm sending along another agent just in case, don't worry its someone you can work well with, just make sure you have plenty of food"

"Shimako?"

"Shimako"

* * *

"So where did you learn how to use that spear?" Zeke asked Raiden

They were currently sitting at a table along with Seres and Rain

"Actually I taught myself initially" Raiden responded and took a bite of his fish "but I wasn't that good, so I started asking everyone I ever met who had knowledge of spear play for tips and advice. Eventually I made up my own style using parts from everything I'd learned from them, I'm still perfecting it though"

"That's still fairly impressive" Zeke praised

"Thanks!" Raiden responded with a smile

Nearby a figure walked away from the bar and looked around, seeing theirs as the only free table, the figure approached and sat down with them

"Oh hi Shimako" Seres greeted

"Hey guys!" The girl, presumably Shimako, replied. She was about 5'6 in height, had bright yellow eyes and long bright red hair that reached her mid back and was in a ponytail, additionally she wore an orange scarf over her lower face, but pulled it down once she sat

"Oh Zeke, this is Shimako, She's an inquisitor" Rain said

"Oh, pleased to meet you Shimako" Zeke said with a bow

"Pleasures all mine" Shimako said before about 4 large platters of food were placed in front of her by Lee

"The usual" Was all he said before Trent flew over and placed a small keg on the table by the food as well and they both went back to the bar

"Geez that's a lot of food" Zeke said "what's the occasion?"

"I'm hungry" Shimako said before digging in with a ferocity that Zeke previously thought impossible

"She eats this much all the time, about 4 or 5 times a day" Seres explained

Zeke was about to ask how she wasn't as big as a house from eating so much but he thought that maybe that wasn't the best idea

"So Shimako, your an inquisitor right?" He asked instead

Shimako nodded "yep, one of the top infiltrators, right behind Nix and Bethany" she said "My Shinobi training makes me perfect for the inquisition"

"Shinobi training?" Zeke asked "so your like a ninja right?"

Shimako nodded "basically, but where I'm from the term was Shinobi, but it's generally the same as what you guys call ninjas, with maybe a few very small differences" she explained

"So is that why you wear that outfit?" Zeke asked, referring to the lightweight armor on her shoulders, chest, and knees. As well as the keikoge underneath it

Shimako nodded "makes for more fluid movement and its comfortable" she explained

"Makes sense I guess" Zeke said

A beep noise was heard and Shimako glanced down at her communication lacrima "boss wants to see me, I'll catch you guys later" she said and left

"See ya" Raiden said as she walked off

* * *

Shimako made her way to the operation center and found Jason talking with Monty

"Sir present as ordered" she said

Jason looked over "ah Shimako, good timing. I'm sending you to Magnolia to keep surveillance on Phoenix Crest with Nix. Pack your things and leave at once"

Shimako saluted "yessir" she said and walked off

"Are you sure about this Jason?" Monty asked once Shimako had left "sending one agent was pushing it enough already. Now two?"

Jason sighed "it can't be helped, Flint is still ignoring me. And if he won't talk to me after letting Xander run free in Magnolia then I need someone there who can interrupt them if it gets out of hand. So unless Flint decides I'm worth his time again, I'll have to treat them as a potential threat"

"Cold way to treat an old friend" Monty pointed out

"It's his fault! If he wasn't so stubborn in his ideals then he wouldn't have overreacted to Trenton and Ellen, and Dylan most likely didn't help the situation either, he's never liked us. So he's forced my hand" Jason then sighed again

"If I had another choice I'd take it, besides, we found that the disciples of Noh might be targeting a member of Phoenix crest so we'd have ended up sending an agent anyway"

"As you say Sir" Monty nodded "just making sure your not letting your emotions get the better of you"

Jason nodded "don't worry Monty I'm fine. I just hope we can say the same for Flint and the rest of Phoenix Crest"


End file.
